Your assignment is to prepare and submit a paper on affirmative action in higher education. This brings in the main question, what is affirmative action? Affirmative action has been defined by Myers (2005) as ensuring all the applicants, be it in employment, or admission at school are treated without regard to their color, sex, race, religion or nationality (6). Niemann and Maruyama (2005) assert that affirmative action is necessary as it provides an avenue for individuals who have been discriminated in the past to acquire higher education. Affirmative action in higher education is also viewed as a form of compensation to the minority for injustices that had previously been inflicted on them. Affirmative action is implemented in a variety of areas like education, employment, health, and housing.

The emphasis of this paper will be affirmative action in higher education. The interest groups of affirmative action in higher education will be outlined. The ongoing debate on the supporters and those against affirmative action in higher education will be discussed. Finally, options suggested for affirmative action in higher education and their relevance will be outlined.

Rauf (2005) documents that race and ethnicity are among the factors that many colleges and universities consider prior to admission. Other factors included and evaluated in the admission process include the grades, talents, and extracurricular activities (11-13). Martin and Spenner document that affirmative action is a move to address the injustice on the minority group and is aimed at enabling them to have a level ground with their counterparts (623).

There are mainly two participants. the universities and the applicants. As the affirmative action is meant to address the issue of race and ethnicity, the supporter applicants of the affirmative action in higher education are the Blacks and Latinos. However, Niemann and Maruyama (2005) document that the Blacks and Latinos are not assured of the&nbsp.effectiveness of affirmative action in higher education as they feel they are still underrepresented in the institutions of higher learning.&nbsp.